M&S to launch four overseas sites October 30, 2012 ■ Marks & Spencer is to step up its international growth plans with the launch of four new foreign language websites next month. The retailer revealed that it will expand online in Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium on 19 November after opening its first two overseas sites in France and Ireland in the past year. [...]
Hugo Boss posts China sales rise October 30, 2012 ■ German fashion house Hugo Boss said yesterday it was seeing some signs of improvement in China, with sales picking up there in the third quarter. “We do see stabilisation but no recovery in consumer confidence in China yet,” chief executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said, as the firm posted third-quarter earnings showing flat sales of €646m [...]
EE rolls out UK’s first 4G mobile network amid contract criticism October 30, 2012 THE UK finally saw its first high-speed 4G service switched on yesterday after years of delays and legal threats between the country’s mobile networks. EE, the parent of Orange and T-Mobile formerly known as Everything Everywhere, launched its 4G service in 11 UK cities and moved the first customers onto its new, third, network, also [...]
Sales of iPhone 5 reinvigorate Apple’s standing in UK market October 30, 2012 APPLE’S iPhone clawed back share of the smartphone market in the UK and Europe in the six weeks to the end of September, as sales of the iPhone 5 reversed a decline seen in recent months. The latest data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel showed that Apple had 28 per cent of all UK smartphone [...]
Big brands help Imperial profits beat estimates October 30, 2012 IMPERIAL Tobacco, the world’s fourth largest cigarette group, reported an eight per cent rise in annual earnings yesterday, helped by strong revenue growth from its key brands. The British firm, which sells over 340bn cigarettes annually of brands such as Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS and West, said adjusted earnings rose to 201p a share for the [...]
East Oxford Street prepares for major high street regeneration October 30, 2012 THE ARRIVAL of Crossrail and the regeneration of Tottenham Court Road is set to double spending growth in the area by £448m over the next 12 years, according to a report commissioned by the New West End Company. The east end of Oxford Street has struggled over the years to shake off its image as [...]
Ombudsman says blame for PPI lies squarely with banks October 30, 2012 BANKS have only themselves to blame for the flood of spurious claims around payment protection insurance (PPI) misselling, the financial ombudsman said yesterday. Banks have argued claims management companies (CMCs) have launched a deluge of baseless claims on behalf of customers who have never even been sold PPI. But ombudsman chief executive Natalie Ceeney told [...]
Telefonica Germany rises in first day of year’s biggest Europe IPO October 30, 2012 SHARES in Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica’s O2-branded German unit rose in its first day in trading yesterday following Europe’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) in more than a year, adding to a fledgling recovery in the region’s new issues market. The offering will raise as much as €1.45bn (£1.17bn) for Spain’s Telefonica to trim its [...]
Watchdog to examine ferry deal October 30, 2012 ■ The Competition Commission will probe Eurotunnel’s takeover of some of collapsed ferry operator SeaFrance’s assets, after the Office of Fair Trading yesterday referred the cross-channel deal to the watchdog. Eurotunnel hopes to take on three boats and other assets from SeaFrance, which fell into liquidation at the start of the year. The OFT is [...]
Banks extend Rusal covenant October 30, 2012 ■ Russian aluminium producer Rusal, controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, has extended a waiver from its banks to the end of 2013 to meet its financial covenants on a $4.75bn (£2.95bn) syndicated loan, as it battles falling prices and higher debt. In March, it agreed a 12-month holiday on the financial conditions, and has now [...]
